1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an automatic transmission. More particularly, the present invention relates to a clutch assembly for an automatic transmission which serves as a kind of engaging/disengaging unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical conventional clutch assembly of the foregoing type is disclosed in an official gazette of Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 60-84469.
According to this prior art, the clutch assembly includes as essential components clutch plates, a housing for supporting the clutch plates operatively associated therewith, a piston for thrusting the clutch plates, and a concentric stop ring (serving as displacement restricting means) disposed at a predetermined position for restricting the axial displacement of the clutch plates.
With the conventional clutch assembly constructed in the above-described manner, however, since the axial displacement of the clutch plates is restricted by the concentric stop ring, there arises a necessity for additionally maintaining an axial space by a quantity corresponding to the arrangement of the concentric stop ring. This leads to the result that the kind of components constituting the clutch assembly is increased, and moreover, an assembling operation to be achieved for the concentric stop ring requires many manhours.